You might have seen mini-farmer's markets in front of schools lately. Here's the scoop!
List of schools/dates for the markets.
The Oakland Fresh School Produce Market program began as a partnership between The Nutrition Services department of OUSD and East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) to create a school-based local food system. In 2012, the program was adopted by the district to promote healthy school environments and increases access to fresh, healthy and affordable food for Oakland residents. The markets are open to parents, students, staff, and members of the community. There are monthly cooking demos, a teacher toolkit program, and a student buyer card program which provides $0.50 coupons to students as an incentive for positive classroom behavior.
The markets sell fresh, mostly locally grown and organic/pesticide-free fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, and honey at public schools. At all but one school, more than 70% of students qualify for free/reduced school meals, and the schools are predominantly located in neighborhoods that have an abundance of liquor stores and corner stores and lack access to fresh affordable foods. Produce is purchased from local family farmers and produce distributors, and sold by parents and students during after-school hours every week at each school site.
EBAYC piloted produce markets at two schools starting in 2006, and expanded the program to 12 sites in 2009. Currently there are 17 markets across the district. If you are interested in a market at your school, please contact Alexandra Emmott, Farm to School Supervisor for Oakland Unified School District at [email protected] or 510-434-3334.
